{"nrhp_refnum":"00000951","name":"American State Bank","other_names":["First American National Bank and Trust","Berwyn National Bank"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"6801 Cermak Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Berwyn","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.85018382000004,"lon":-87.79353596499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-10-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Economics","European"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, rectangular brick bank building clad in Indiana limestone at 6801 Cermak Road in Berwyn, Cook County, Illinois, completed in 1926 for the American State Bank at the corner of Cermak Road and Oak Park Avenue.","why_significant":"The building is locally significant under Criterion A for its link to Berwyn's economic development and to the Czech, Slovak and Bohemian community that settled there in the 1910s and 1920s. It is also significant under Criterion C as one of the best surviving Classical Revival commercial buildings in Berwyn. It is the only surviving historic bank building on Cermak Road in Berwyn.","narrative":"Rising at the southwest corner of Cermak Road and Oak Park Avenue in Berwyn, Illinois, this two-story brick bank is faced in Indiana limestone and topped by a tile-clad dome. Built in 1925-26 for the American State Bank, it has symmetrical north and east facades with carved cattle heads, swags, rosettes and laurel wreaths. Inside, a large banking hall is covered by an octagonal vaulted dome with gilded plaster decoration and stained glass. Later alterations include glass-block windows and a 1940s redecoration with air conditioning, but the main facades and dome cornices survive. The bank served Berwyn's growing Czech, Slovak and Bohemian population, and its president, Frank Topinka, financed many local home loans. It was the first financial institution on Cermak Road in Berwyn and is the only historic bank building left there. It closed in 1932 and has since been used by a social club and left vacant.","period_of_significance":"1925-1932","architect_builder":"unknown","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as vacant. The building was used by the Slovak Club of Berwyn from 1972 to about 1982, then stood vacant until it was purchased in 1991.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.790774-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/46/8923/28892346/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/00000951.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000951/e24c7f21a7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000951/e24c7f21a7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Teemu08","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_State_Bank_Berwyn.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu08</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_State_Bank_Berwyn.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"15000521","name":"Central Berwyn Bungalow Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/central-berwyn-bungalow-historic-district-15000521/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892346","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_State_Bank_(Berwyn,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16868930"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/american-state-bank-00000951/"}